


Oxygen

by MadamRed



Series: One Word Prompts (Tumblr) [2]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M, Near Death Experiences
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-04
Updated: 2016-08-04
Packaged: 2018-07-29 05:19:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7671619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadamRed/pseuds/MadamRed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One word prompt requested on Tumblr: Oxygen</p>
            </blockquote>





	Oxygen

You felt heavy. You tried to move but whatever that bastard had given you had rendered your body temporarily useless. The voice inside your brain was yelling at your arms and legs to _do_ something, but they remained paralysed. Your lungs were starting to hurt due to your trying to hold your breath underwater for so long. _This is it,_ you thought bitterly. If your vision hadn’t started to blur and been consumed by darkness due to the lack of **oxygen** , you probably would have seen the figure that plunged in and came swimming towards you as fast as he could. You faintly remember a pair of strong hands holding you by your waist before you passed out.

Hotch swam back to the surface and gently put you on the river bank as he proceeded to kneel next to you to try and bring you back. After several attempts, he finally managed to revive you, and you spat out water everywhere. He sighed in relief and fell back on his ankles once you sat up, looking around you with wild, unfocused eyes. The blurriness disappeared after a couple of seconds, and you stared at the FBI initials that adorned your saviour’s chest. You looked up and saw a middle-aged man, mumbling something onto his wrist.

The feeling was slowly returning to your limbs, and you were closing and opening your fists slowly to see if that helped speed up the process when a couple of paramedics and more people with FBI vests came into view. You were put in a gurney and taken to an ambulance parked not too far from where you had been thrown in the river by your kidnapper. You hadn’t even heard the sirens while you tried to regain your bearings.

The paramedics checked you everywhere and wrapped you up in a shock blanket as you stared out through the open doors. They were about to close the back of the ambulance when you saw a head of plastered dark hair walk by.

‘Hold on!’ you croaked out, and a coughing fit ensued. The man heard the commotion and retraced his steps until he was standing in front of the vehicle.

‘Miss, we need to take you to the hospital _now!’_ one of the paramedics said, impatiently.

‘I’m fine! I just need a second,’ you got up against the guy’s instructions for you to remain in the gurney and climbed down with the help of the agent.

His face was unreadable, except for the frown he briefly directed at the paramedic for his outburst. Despite the height difference and the slight dizziness you felt, you threw your arms around his neck and he encircled your waist with his hands once more to help you keep your balance. His touch was gentle, knowing that you were still weak.

‘Thank you,’ you whispered as a few tears travelled down your cheeks and onto his shoulder.

‘He’s gone now. You’re safe,’ he told you softly, and you couldn’t contain the sob that escaped from your throat.

He stepped back and smiled at you once you released him. You got into the ambulance and waved at the man who had saved you and whose name you didn’t even know. He nodded back before the doors closed.


End file.
